New York state has not fared well under a federal program that subsidized farmers hurt by the United States’ trade war with China.

Richard Ball, state agriculture commissioner, told state lawmakers recently that most of the federal money went to states in the midwest where farmers grow commodity crops. One of the reasons New York farms didn’t benefit as much as their midwest counterparts is New York’s reliance on Canada and Mexico as a market for New York’s farm goods as opposed to China. Mexico purchases about 25% of the state’s dairy exports while Canada is the state’s biggest agricultural trading partner.

“China occupies the headlines in all of this because they’re so large, but for us in New York, what we do in trade with Canada and Mexico dwarfs what we do with China. So building a relationship with another country, with a buyer in another country, takes many years. That building of a relationship, when it’s severed, many times it’s difficult to put it back together because they find other sources. So you’re cultivating relationships. By and large the largest portion of trade mitigation money, we’ve seen two rounds and they’re talking about a third round, went to five states in the midwest to largely commodity crops. We saw some in dairy here and it was helpful, but at a time when they were losing a dollar a hundredweight because of the trade challenges they were getting back about 11 cents. So clearly it’s much better to have a customer than to have a small amount of return.”

Ball mentioned several times during his appearance before legislators Monday the USMCA trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The USMCA was signed by President Donald Trump to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Among its major tenets is a guarantee of greater access for U.S. farmers to Canada’s agriculture market, new e-commerce rules, requiring a higher percentage of cars be made from parts manufactured in North America and requiring that at least 40% of vehicle production be done by workers earning at least $16 an hour. It will take several months for the trade deal to take effect. Mexico’s Senate approved the agreement in December, but Canada’s Parliament still has to sign the accord. All three countries then have to submit notice they have met requirements under the USMCA and develop regulations companies use to comply with the agreement in their day-to-day work.

As that process takes place, Ball said he will be involved in helping represent New York’s agricultural industry in the discussions.

“This is something that’s ongoing and I think being able to be involved and represent New York state at the tri-national accord where those converstaions happen about ironing out so-called irritances between countries, tariffs, etc.,” Ball said. “I feel like the new USMCA program is a step forward for agriculture and fixes some of the issues NAFTA had for some of us in agriculture. I think optimisticly in that regard and with agriculture in mind I think it’s a step forward. The sooner it gets ratified and implemented and we get rid of those tariffs the better off we’re going to be.”